Social Suicide
by Lost Experiment
Summary: Axel had only switched sides to see Roxas one last time. Hades doesn’t have to know that, as the consequences of helping save the world have afforded Axel one more chance to find his heart…that is if he doesn’t screw up first.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Social Suicide

**Author:** Lost Experiment

**Rating:** PG-13 ish. (T)

**Warnings/Pairings:** If you haven't beaten KH2 or played Chain of Memories there could be some spoiler issues. There are no pairings in this particular chapter, but this fic will end up containing a relationship between Axel, Roxas and Sora, or rather…well, I'll leave it up to you to work out the eventual capacities, and start providing proper warnings when it's appropriate to do so.

**Disclaimer:** Kingdom Hearts is the intellectual property of Disney and Square Enix. Disney's Hercules is...well, the intellectual property of Disney.

**Summary:** Axel had only switched sides to see Roxas one last time but Hades doesn't have to know that, as the consequences of helping save the world have afforded Axel one more chance to find his heart…that is if he doesn't screw up first.

**Author's Notes:** One of my very favorite old stories. I'm trying to foist motivations on myself to continue it along with Headlines and another non- KH fic I'm working on. Headlines is my 'whodunnit' story (I have a soft spot for Mysteries) and this is my "Next-Life" fandom-specific tale. I own neither KH nor the Bad Religion song this fic is named for. As always, please review. It's your choice of course, but it sure gives me a smile – even if it's critique.

* * *

The first thing Axel noticed is how unbearably hot it was. The uncomfortable prickling of overheated flesh assailed his senses, and he shifted uncomfortably. Having controlled the element of fire throughout his existence, the sensation was nothing if not weird. He was also aware that it was quite dark, and that's because his eyes were closed. Whatever was under him felt hard and so he determined that he must have passed out somewhere on the ground. None of that would be even half so strange if he didn't know he wasn't supposed to exist at all. Not even as a Nobody. He'd faded to darkness after helping Sora, and that was that.

It was still dark when he opened his eyes. Dim might have been a better description, as the only light came from small glowing orbs drifting lazily through the air like oversized snowflakes.

Pulling himself to his feet and deciding not to question an undeniably good thing, Axel's eyes darted around the cave. No clue came as to where he was, so he picked a direction and started walking.

The cave passages opened into an antechamber of rock ledges leading upwards. No sooner had the Nobody stepped through the doorway than a burst of flame that he had certainly not created spouted in front of him, dying away before Axel could get over the initial shock to reveal a humanoid male with blue skin, and bright white-blue flames where his hair should be.

"Heeey kiddo! Been waitin' for you to wake up!" he stalked up to Axel and unabashedly threw an arm around his shoulders. His skin felt just as hot as the unbearable temperature, and where the thick blue arm brushed his unprotected neck, Axel could feel an angry red burn start to form.

"My name's Axel." he struggled a bit, unable to escape the arm but alleviating the heat against his skin. "Got it memorized?" he couldn't help adding in an endeavor to at least bring some normalcy back to the situation.

"Yes yes. Well, welcome just the same."

"What is this place?" Axel asked, warily. Despite the situation being unduly strange and getting more so by the second, the blue-man sounded smarmy. In fact, he reminded Axel a lot of himself and that was more than enough to put the Nobody on his guard. Oddly, there was something somewhat familiar about this guy, but he knew he'd never met him before. Perhaps Xemnas or one of the others in the Organization had mentioned him.

"I'm Hades: God of the Underworld. Y'see, kid, when people die their souls end up coming here. Sometimes they're lovely little buggers and I don't end up having much to do with them. Good, happy lives. Then, there are people like you. Hmmm..." He trailed off, grabbing a piece of paper from seemingly thin air. Ooooh, kid, I really like you."

"Axel." Axel reminded him, though distractedly as his mind processed the information.

"Murder. Betrayal. Betrayal is underlined. Oooh, and it's in bold caps too! Well, never mind. We've got all the time in the world to go over it. Anyway, it's people like you whom I get to punish for all eternity with delightfully ironic torture. In short, welcome to...er, well I believe you'd probably call it 'Hell'."

"Wait a minute. I was a Nobody, and I had no Heart! Evidently, I still don't since I'm still me and not my 'Other'. How did I end up here?"

Hades pursued his document a second time, his face falling as he did so. "Ah, crap. I hate fine print. It seems that in spite of your transgressions, you ended up here because you did some decent things near the end of your um, existence. Since you didn't have a heart your choices in life are not necessarily judged on the same grounds that a normal human's would. I'm supposed to give you another chance. You get to return to existence, as you were."

It took effort for Axel to measure his reaction. Inwardly though, he was grinning maniacally. A second chance. Give him his existence back and just watch his smoke. First get Roxas back, then the two of them could exist together for all eternity. Of course, that thought lasted only so long. "What's the catch?" he asked.

"Catch?" Hades said innocently, and Axel was not fooled.

"Of course. There's always a catch. You wouldn't let me go so easily."

"That's the bad part about you bad-guy types." the God sighed lustily. "You're too suspicious. Thing is kid, you're on a time limit, so to speak."

"So I turn into a pumpkin at midnight?" Axel was starting to get some of his confidence back. They were on grounds he knew now.

"Well, the first stipulation is that you've gotta do some good for the universe." Hades was looking as though it pained him to admit this to Axel. "None of this running around and stabbing people in the back, or you come straight back here."

Axel half-grinned and half-pouted. The demise of Vexen, Larexene and Marluxia had been one of his finest moments. That information also killed his 'remove Sora's heart' plan. Given the choice between being a friendly bugger and 'delightfully ironic torture', he'd rather make nice.

"Secondly, you have to retrieve your heart."

"I have to find my other?"

"Not exactly. Your 'Other' or rather, your 'Heartless' was definitely destroyed. I believe in Agrabah, though that's not important."

Axel's first thought to that was that he really hoped his Heartless wasn't one of those fire-breathing fat bandits, but he turned his thoughts more readily to the idea of this task. "So, if I don't have an Other to reunite with, then how the hell do I get a heart?"

"You'll have to figure that one out for yourself." there was a note of glee in the god's tone, and Axel groaned. "Of course, if you fail to make any progress in this, you'll come straight back to me."

"How long do I have?"

"As long as you're making an effort."

"How will you know if I'm making an effort?" Axel asked slyly.

"God of the Underworld, kid." Hades smiled toothily down at him, and Axel knew he'd been right. Here was someone who knew how to play the game just as well as he did, with the added luxury of divine power. He couldn't charm or double-talk him like he'd been able to with Marluxia or even to a certain extent, Sora. That meant time for Plan B.

It was rare that Axel shut down all semblance of emotional pretense, but he decided that in a situation like this, it was probably the safest bet for getting a straight answer.

In a voice that accurately mirrored his state as a Nobody, Axel fixed Hades with a singularly empty look and asked in no uncertain terms the way to the nearest exit. It was all he could do to actually maintain a sense of preternatural disinterest when he still got a mile-a-minute answer in return. "Kid, you didn't really think I was going to get you out of here out of here, did you? I mean, you can go up top, but the WORLD, well now that's a different story. I'm a busy god, places to go, souls to torment...er, judge y'see. So now, off you go, over that way and I'd suggest just between you and me that you think of a plan soon or you're never getting out!"

Hades was gone in another burst of brimstone and Axel reeled; not just because of how odd it felt to have fire as a weakness as opposed to an ally. His mind was spinning circles like a hamster on a wheel, but he tried to reassure himself. He'd always been good at this kind of a thing. He could get himself out of this mess, just like he'd maneuvered his way out of countless others. Wasn't he on his third lifetime after all? None of the other Organization members, not even Xemnas himself could claim the same.

The thought put fresh determination into him. He'd have to be a little more careful about what he did this time though. There was no doubt that he'd already answered his own question as to what to try first with the heart issue. He'd need to find Sora. That was his strongest link before he'd died, and it made perfect sense to pick up there.

This left the more pressing issue of how exactly he was going to get off this forsaken rock. The World that Never Was and the powers its existence had afforded him were long gone. Not to mention he was quite sure that even if he'd had the power to reopen dark pathways to travel, doing so was probably a good way to botch his third chance before he'd even got started.

All he could do was retrace his steps down the passage way in the opposite direction he'd been going when he'd run across the god. The drifting Spirits seemed to be thicker and more luminescent in this section suggesting he must be going the right way, but he couldn't shake a sense of what could only be described as impending doom.

Perhaps he was still more underconfident in his chances than he was willing to admit, but this spoke of something far greater on the horizon.

It was then that he saw the light up ahead. Only this light was no sunshine of a bright and beautiful outside world. This was a search light, attached to a structure that could have put Oblivion to shame in the foreboding nature it exuded. Axel stopped. Intuition told him that going inside the place would be a step towards finding the answer to his problems yet the moment he entertained the idea, the trepidation only increased.

All in all, he was still a Nobody and that tended to work to his advantage when making decisions based on 'feelings'. He looked around and located a small red demon standing by a boat. Axel stepped up to him and they locked eyes. "So, how do I get across?"

"You interested in participating in the Hades Cup?"

"No, I just...want to go over there." Axel deemed it wise to be patient, having had some experience with the denizens of this world now.

"Ahhh, spectator huh? I really don't blame you. We've had some great battles for the past few days."

"Battles?" The words were out of Axel's mouth before he put two and two together: evidently in a epic mythological world, there was a Coliseum.

The demon gave him a bit of a funny look but didn't call him on it. "Yeah. It's either that Leon guy or that Cloud fellow now that the Keyblader and Hercules don't bother coming down here no more, but the new bloke Hades found has managed to even the score a little. Quite the oddball that one, but I suppose if Hades set him up to the task he's either a real nasty bit of work or he did something right awful when he was alive."

Axel ignored the last of it. "Leon, you say?"

"Yeah, Leon. Guess you've heard of him too?"

"What do I have to do to participate in these battles of yours?"

The demon looked Axel over and shrugged as if to say 'Your Funeral'. "Just sign up, is all."

The flaming pen and parchment that the increasingly threatening creature produced out of nowhere gave Axel the impression he was signing his life away yet again, but then Sora and Leon had come out of here clean hadn't they? Clumsily, he managed to scribble his name on the list as the creature held it up without putting the tip of the pen through the paper.

When they docked, the demon pointed Axel in the direction of a gate, and he walked through into an almost pitch-black arena. Nothing was happening yet and for the first time, Axel began to wonder what he'd gotten himself into. He'd entered this tournament for the chance to make contact with one of Sora's acquaintances. That wasn't what was troubling him. What was he supposed to fight with, and furthermore, who or what was it he was fighting, apart from Leon? If he couldn't make portals, then perhaps he couldn't summon his blades or control fire either. The experience with Hades had been quite unnerving in that regard. At that moment, the lights went up, and Axel mentally crossed his fingers and hoped for the best.

He soon found that Hades was at least true to his word. The Nobody's powers still flourished, and he cut through the first eight rounds with little trouble. Various creatures swarmed him, but even those that produced fire themselves soon fell to the blades of his chakrams.

Things were getting down to the wire now, and since the opponents had been getting harder as he went, he knew the second to last fight wouldn't be quite so easy. It would be a huge annoyance to fail now. Leon was the ultimate goal and since he already knew he was a top-ranking contestant, he'd be in the top-ranking spot on the roster. Other than that, he'd not bothered to check the ranks, so it was a total shock when he found himself face to face with someone he'd been sure he'd never see again.

"Demyx!?"

There was a stirring behind the other man's eyes, but although the former Number Nine's jaw opened, he attacked before spitting a single word out. Axel was hard pressed to dodge the wall of water sent his way.

Somewhere in the back of his frustrated mind, Axel processed the idea of "delightfully ironic torture." The Nocturne had hated fighting, and now it seemed he was being all but forced to.

Even though he'd never had much to do with Nine, Demyx's presence here was actually frightening, transcending even a lack of emotions. More than anything, he wanted to put as much distance between him and this opponent. It was uncommonly distracting and made it harder to avoid the attacks as a result. He kept reminding himself that Demyx was dead. Dead completely, not even a Nobody anymore and condemned to this. A fate he had a chance to escape. Finally, a flying uppercut sent the Nocturne flying, and when he crumpled upon landing, he didn't get up afterwards. The fight was called in Axel's favor but fate or maybe Hades himself, decided to remind Axel exactly what kind of broken glass he was walking on.

Two demons, one of whom he thought was the individual from the boat came to get Demyx's body. It was then that Axel realized that he'd not knocked his opponent out, as the two were literally forcing the Nocturne to stand, to prepare for the next battle. Axel caught his eye as they passed and immediately wished he hadn't.

"Axel." The acknowledgement held no more emotion than it ever had when Demyx had existed as a Nobody, but that gaze promised that there was torment far worse than losing your heart.

Just like that Demyx was gone again and a chorus of cheers alerted Axel to Leon's arrival even before the other man spoke.

"Another ex-Nobody?" His tone was annoyingly long-suffering and irritated.

Axel composed himself and turned to face Leon with a smirk, remembering what the Demon on the boat had let slip about 'the new guy'. Now that he knew who it was, he couldn't help but have a little pride. "Aw, don't like the fact that we're putting a dent in your record?"

Leon scowled. "I've got no problem taking you on. You're dead anyway."

"That's where you'd be wrong. I am not dead. Still lacking a heart, but not dead."

Actually dropping his weapon to his side in shock, Leon furrowed his brow in suspicion. "How is that possible?"

Axel could not have asked for a better opening. "How about this: If you win, I'll tell you." He raised his chakrams, and Leon brought his gunblade into a fighting stance once more.

"What do you want if you win?" Leon was no fool, though his tone suggested asking was a mere formality.

"When I win," Axel amended. "We'll talk."

_To Be Continued..._


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Social Suicide

**Author:** Lost Experiment

**Rating:** PG-13 ish. (T)

**Warnings/Pairings:** If you haven't beaten KH2 or played Chain of Memories there could be some spoiler issues. There are no pairings in this particular chapter, but this fic will end up containing a relationship between Axel, Roxas and Sora, or rather…well, I'll leave it up to you to work out the eventual capacities, and start providing proper warnings when it's appropriate to do so. This chapter DOES however contain the added pairing of Riku/Kairi.

**Disclaimer:** Kingdom Hearts is the intellectual property of Disney and Square Enix. Disney's Hercules is...well, the intellectual property of Disney.

**Summary:** Axel had only switched sides to see Roxas one last time but Hades doesn't have to know that, as the consequences of helping save the world have afforded Axel one more chance to find his heart…that is if he doesn't screw up first.

**Author's Notes:** Chapter Two. (Yes, I know you couldn't have figured it out all on your own.) For some reason I tend to work faster on stories and do more posting during final essay season than at any other time. To quote South Park: "Why play outside with a ball all day when you can sit in front of your computer and do something important?" Thanks to my reviewers of course - your comments, especially the nice involved ones really make it worthwhile!

* * *

**Chapter Two:**

Axel hadn't expected the battle to be easy in the first place, but even he found himself surprised at the intensity with which Leon fought. He was evidently determined to owe nothing to his opponent, and given the experiences that the residents of Radiant Garden had evidently had with Nobodies, he couldn't exactly blame him.

There was no time to think about that though, as Axel barely managed to dodge the gunblade when the soldier came barreling through his wall of fire and racing across the molten floor with little noticeable regard for either of Axel's most potent offenses. He had to end this, and quickly.

At the next strike, Axel twisted his chakram sideways, grinding the blade between two spokes. Leon's eyes went wide as he found himself suddenly unable to dislodge his weapon from his opponent's. In spite of thinking fast enough to free one hand in order to take a swing at the Nobody, Axel's boot caught him close-to in the middle of his stomach, and he went flying backwards as the air was forcibly expelled from his windpipe. Stepping forward, Axel rattled the blade free, and took a swipe at the disarmed Leon as he staggered to his feet.

He fell down dizzily, and didn't make another attempt to get up. The battle was over.

In spite of being quite badly hurt, it came as no surprise to Axel that the soldier had no apparent desire to accept any medical aid. He staggered to his feet on his own, shaking his head to clear the worst of the dizziness away and dragged himself off the battlefield. Dodging some congratulatory patrons of the events, Axel caught up with him casting a healing spell on himself in the hallways.

"What do you want?" Leon grumbled, rolling his shoulder experimentally.

Axel paused. He'd been so intent on earning the favour that he had failed to make specific plans. Mentioning Sora outright was a mistake and he doubted highly that Leon would willingly offer him passage with him to the Radiant Garden, promise or not. The soldier was a good person, but he wasn't so naive or stupid that he would bring someone dangerous into his home without a lot of reason and tight security. Admitting his current weaknesses and disabilities or trying to explain his situation would like as not, be a big mistake as well. The best thing that Axel had going for him right now was the fact that he didn't in fact have to give Leon information as he had promised. Leon had probably long decided he'd been lying when he'd said he wasn't dead and Axel was suddenly quite certain he didn't want to correct him.

No, information was probably the most marketable commodity right now. "I'm interested in knowing what happened at the end. With the Keyblader and the Superior and all that."

"No one's told you down here?" Leon asked. The hostility in his voice had lessened somewhat, and Axel knew his assumptions had been correct.

"Nope."

It didn't take Leon too long to relate what Sora himself had probably told him. If there had been any mention of his personal role in the proceedings, the fighter didn't mention it. Axel listened patiently to the rundown that came to a close with Sora returning home. As predicted however, Leon continued the tale, unwittingly giving him those little spare tidbits of information that he deemed unimportant, but Axel lapped up. "So now, the three of them mostly want to continue fighting the Heartless, then try and train some new Keybladers up. Is that enough?"

That made things a little harder for Axel. If he didn't know where Sora would most definitely be, it would be harder to track him down.

He smirked at Leon. "I think that clears things up. Well then. Thanks for holding up your end of our deal."

Looking mildly offended at Axel's unspoken insinuation about his talents, Leon gave a noncommittal grunt, and headed off. He waited until he'd left the arena proper before following him.

It was not hard to silently tail the soldier as he headed out of the Underworld. Leon was a strong man, confident in his own skills and such people were usually easy to creep up on, as they didn't bother to sneak around themselves. Axel knew that Hades was watching his actions and would certainly be able to find loopholes in their contract as easily as he, so he had to watch the moral value of his choices. Taking a free ride on Leon's Gummi ship was probably a pretty minor offense, so long as he didn't kill the other man during the journey or steal anything.

Spotting his chance when Leon went around to the back of the ship to look at the engines and the gun mounts, Axel slipped inside, giving the interior a hurried once-over. Leon's personal ship was a touch larger and more impressive than the average one-person craft considering he was close personal friends with Cid, but it was lucky for Axel too. Even so, there were few spots for him to hide that he could be sure wouldn't be looked into during the course of the journey. Axel found himself wishing for Xigbar's gravity manipulation so he could spend the journey on the ceiling. There was some living space in the back of the craft however, and Axel finally took the most extreme opposite, rolling under the low bed just as the soles of Leon's boots came into his line of vision. Even though Axel wasn't a terribly big man, the space was extremely cramped, but at least it meant that Leon wasn't likely to be paranoid someone was under there.

He listened to some rustling, drawers opening and closing and held his breath for an agonizing moment when Leon tried to pack his gunblade trunk under the bed, then instead moved it elsewhere.

All in all, the journey had been uneventful for the most part, save for the landing, which was a touch unpleasant. Axel decided Leon must not fly often, which though he was not to know it, was true.

He listened to the sounds of Leon leaving, then counted out several minutes to be sure the other man wasn't coming back before coming out of his hiding spot. He shed his coat quickly, leaving himself in the black shirt and pants every Organization member had worn under their uniform. With the boots, he thought he looked a bit military, but it was better than the coat: it marked him as dangerous and was just too recognizable.

He stashed the coat behind a dumpster in the ship bay, musing to himself that he'd have to find himself a place to stay, then set to the task of finding out where Sora was. He figured that so long as he stayed off of the radar of Leon's group, no one else would raise objection to his presence.

* * *

The incident with Axel in the Coliseum was currently far from Leon's mind, but he was still in fact thinking about Nobodies. He'd been on business to the Destiny Islands and had dropped by the tournaments on the way home, due to the current situation in Radiant Garden: a sudden outbreak of lesser Nobodies. Normally, the once-restoration committee, who was comprised of a team of excellent fighters and an extremely powerful magician had little trouble keeping what Heartless there were under their control and normally only saw Sora, Riku or Kairi when they were passing through for pleasure.

This time however was different, and he could hardly blame the residents of the world for their panic. Privately, Leon thought that they still could handle it without the help of the Keyblade master, but Aerith had suggested that they ask Sora anyway, not as an insult to Leon, Cloud and Yuffie's skills, but because she felt that with Riku and Kairi away on their honeymoon, their friend might be feeling lonely.

It had seemed she'd been right, as Sora jumped on the chance to help. He could have done without the teasing that he was losing his skills, but then again, maybe it was just from listening to Aerith, the jibe had seemed forced. Leon had endured worse than friendly teasing, so he left it slide gracefully.

Spotting several of the offending Nobodies gliding along in the lower part of the town, Leon took a detour and dispatched them before returning to Merlin's house. Sora was already there, sitting at the table drinking a glass of lemonade. Since it was half-gone, Aerith must have made it correctly this time and he helped himself.

"Welcome home." The Keyblader offered, and Leon nodded his thanks.

"There were Dusks out there just now."

"I'm afraid we've now got even bigger problems." Aeris replied, and Sora nodded over the rim of his glass. "Cid and Merlin ran into a more powerful Nobody over by the Gummi hangar earlier today, while you were out. They were able to take it out together, and haven't seen one since, but most of the crew are out right now issuing a warning. Cid's in the back putting the defense systems back online."

"Do they know what kind of Nobody it was?" Sora spoke up.

Aerith shook her head. "Not a clue. But it's strange. Mostly, we just see Heartless and Dusks around."

"I'll go have a look tomorrow." Sora promised. If you run into another one, try and remember whatever you can about it, so I can try and figure out what we're dealing with."

Leon nodded, but Yuffie and Cloud chose that moment to come back with Donald and Goofy in tow, so further discussion was put off while the reunion occurred.

"Didn't think we'd be seeing you so soon after Riku and Kairi's wedding!" Goofy smiled. "But, I guess they need our help here, huh?"

Donald elbowed the King's knight in the side as he caught a look at Sora's face. "Don't you have any tact?" he gabbled in outrage. "Sora doesn't want to talk about that right now obviously, He's…"

"Fine!" Sora cut in, smiling. "No, really, I miss them both, but they'll be home soon! It's just a Honeymoon, not like they moved to a different world!"

The conversation continued after that, and although he participated, he wondered how 'fine' he really was. He'd always really liked Kairi, but had never done anything about it, finding himself tongue-tied and nervous when it came down to the idea of asking about a relationship. Then of course, they'd had their adventures and it got put off again in the importance of getting caught up with the school they'd missed and thinking about their futures. He didn't blame either her or Riku for their relationship, he hadn't given Kairi any reason to think he might want one and he'd always denied it when Riku asked about his feelings for her. Furthermore, these were two of his best friends. He loved them and if they made each other happy, that was what was most important.

Or so he had kept telling himself. It had all started when he and Riku had decided to continue fighting the Heartless. Kairi had insisted on joining them, now that she had a Keyblade too. It was impossible to refuse Kairi anything when she'd set her mind on something, and they'd agreed, though Sora had insisted she accompany one of the two of them at least the first few times and that she train with Riku. It just seemed logical, as he habitually fought with two Keyblades now, and Riku's style would be easier for Kairi to learn. Then, the two of them had come back from their first job together laughing and unable to keep their hands off each other. The wedding had been announced later that same year. As stupid as it was, no matter what remonstrations Sora had given himself for even thinking along those lines, it was just that unfair. He was the hero so why didn't he get the girl?

"…is that alright?"

"Earth to Sora!"

"Gawrsh, I think he's zoned right out!"

"Huh?" Sora suddenly snapped out of his thoughts.

"Are you alright? You looked really deep in thought." Aerith asked.

"He couldn't be!" giggled Yuffie. "This is Sora we're talking about!"

Swatting playfully at her, Sora frowned indignantly. "Hey!"

"I was saying," Cloud repeated patiently, "that we'll take turns tomorrow patrolling for Dusks. Your shift will be with Donald and myself. I'll be going to the Bastion, Donald to the maw and you'll stay in the town proper."

This time Sora nodded. "Fine by me."

The evening ended there abruptly with Aerith taking Sora's earlier pondering as a sign of exhaustion, and suggested they all go to bed.

The Hollow Bastion crew hadn't been kidding about their Nobody problem. There were Heartless too of course, but their number appeared oddly diminished compared to the Dusks that were floating around. The town itself was as a result deader than usual, with only a few people braving the infestation to go about their daily business.

As he set to work fighting, again Sora felt himself beginning to get a little tired. Dusks were notably more difficult to take down than their Heartless counterparts, but the complaint fled his mind as the prickly-looking Assassin Nobody burst from the ground. This must have been what Cid and Merlin had mentioned last night.

He still dispatched it with little trouble, sustaining a tiny cut on his shoulder that a mild cure spell took care of instantly.

That was when he heard the voice. "Why hello there, Sora."

The Keyblader spun on the spot to gape at the person who'd somehow come up behind him. His mouth worked furiously but no sound managed to come out for a few moments. "You…it can't be. It can't be."

"Oh yes yes, Sora. It's me."

_TBC..._


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** Social Suicide

**Author:** Lost Experiment

**Rating:** PG-13 ish. (T)

**Warnings/Pairings:** If you haven't beaten KH2 or played Chain of Memories there could be some spoiler issues. There are no pairings in this particular chapter, but this fic will end up containing a relationship between Axel, Roxas and Sora, or rather…well, I'll leave it up to you to work out the eventual capacities, and start providing proper warnings when it's appropriate to do so. This chapter DOES however contain the added pairing of Riku/Kairi.

**Disclaimer:** Kingdom Hearts is the intellectual property of Disney and Square Enix. Disney's Hercules is...well, the intellectual property of Disney.

**Summary:** Axel had only switched sides to see Roxas one last time but Hades doesn't have to know that, as the consequences of helping save the world have afforded Axel one more chance to find his heart…that is if he doesn't screw up first.

**Author's Notes:** Thank you to all my reviewers thus far. Please keep it up…and enjoy Chapter 3. I'll be over here marking finals.

* * *

**Chapter Three**

The Nobody wisely called his own weapons to his hands but he needn't have worried. Sora seemed to change his mind half-way through and did a funny kind of dance on the spot as he untensed his muscles, then lifted the weapons again. Understandably, he was confused as to what to do.

On the one hand Axel had helped him in the past, to the point of giving up his own life. If he had to run into a high-level Nobody, Axel was dangerous but perhaps less so than some of the others. Never mind that Axel was supposedly dead and had been so for several years now. If this was a hoax, it was certainly an extremely poor endeavor to throw Sora or the Hollow Bastion crew off balance.

"I don't have the time for this kind of stupid game. Whatever you are, just..." Sora trailed off, immensely frustrated. He'd dealt with replicas and other fake creatures in the past and they tended to be pathetic imitations of their original counterparts. He'd come for a distraction he was sure that this imitation Axel would definitely not be. On the other hand, if someone was about who wanted to create replicas of Organization XIII then that might be a crime worth looking into.

"You look upset." Axel smirked, twirling one chakram lazily on a finger now that he was sure Sora was not going to attack.

"I don't feel like wasting my time on you." Sora said smartly.

"Aw, try me. Talking to a Nobody's a bit like talking to a brick wall. Except you know, unlike your average brick wall, I can at least pretend to look like I care."

Sora's lips quirked up in spite of himself, but he kept his keyblades at half-mast anyway. "Fine. First, what are you really? I saw Axel die."

"Fade, actually. But dying, sure, if you like. That works too: same basic principle."

Sora's grip tightened on the Keyblades. "You didn't answer my question." he pointed out warningly. If he couldn't or wouldn't give a reasonable response soon, he would attack indiscriminately.

For his own part, Axel was indeed stalling. He was running through every possible answer in his mind, trying to decide how much information he should give. "It would seem that I've been given some kind of 'second chance' to find my heart." he started with the watered down version of the truth, hoping that the Keyblader wouldn't press the deeper questions.

He was in luck as Sora's thoughts were further ahead than that. "So then, why are you here in Hollow Bastion? Wouldn't a Nobody try and find Kingdom Hearts? Or King Mickey? He knows more about Hearts than anyone, including Di..Ansem."

"Don't you remember what I told you the last time we spoke?"

The Keyblader had to think. It had been an incredibly long time, and that part of his adventure had never been the happiest of memories; probably because of some lasting connection with Roxas. The thought of his other half finally jogged the memory. "Ah! You said that I made you feel like you had a heart." he said no more after that. Somehow now, it was an even stranger thing to repeat.

"Exactly. I thought, hey. Best to go to the source." Axel let his chakrams fade back into darkness, rubbing his hands together. "Then it's settled. You'll help me out."

"I never said--" Sora protested.

"You're a trooper, really."

Sora couldn't believe how he'd been trapped so fast. Evidently being dead for years had done very little to diminish Axel's talent for manipulating people to do what he wanted. An innately good nature had won the day in the end, and Sora couldn't really refuse to help Axel out. He did after all, owe him one. Maybe he could try and help him out. Besides, he decided that being trapped in a house of warriors would probably deter him from causing trouble.

That of course was the next problem. He could only imagine what Leon and the others would say when he walked in next to a very clearly defined 'bad guy'. One of Donald's spazz fits was not something he was looking forward to either but it couldn't be helped. He'd get everything sorted out eventually.

* * *

He'd certainly called it; no sooner had they rounded the corner to Merlin's house, then Donald's quack rang out in a kind of frantic horror.

"Sora! Behind you!"

Axel had been keeping up a steady stream of nonsense conversation as they walked, stuff about the town and the food here and some very odd comparisons between Sora's behavior and Roxas' that made the Keyblade Master very uncomfortable indeed. It was almost a relief for that train of thought to be broken, but Donald's initial shriek had brought everyone running into a maelstrom of shouting and weaponry and flying magic.

"Wait Donald!"

"That's a Nobody, Sora!"

"Organization XIII!"

"Get behind him Goofy, I'll hit him with a blizzaga spell!"

"WAIT! STOP!" Sora was screaming at the top of his lungs with his eyes closed and fists balled up. The noise finally stopped, and he dared to open an eye.

They were staring at him, Leon and Goofy had Axel pinned against the wall with the Nobody's chakrams pushing against the shield and gunblade as he struggled to throw them off. Donald was the only one not still, hopping on the spot with his staff still held aloft.

Predictably, he broke the silence. "Sora! Have you lost your mind?! Have you forgotten? That's a Nobody! He has no heart!"

"Guys, Axel is…uh…trying to get his heart back. And he wants my help, right?"

Axel nodded at that, trying once again to disentangle himself from Goofy and Leon. Goofy looked ready to believe Sora, but Leon shook his head at him, and Axel remained where he was.

"What is going on out here?" Merlin opened the door, surveying the scene and Sora heaved a sigh of relief. "Let the young man go. No, let him go." He repeated as there had been mutterings of protest.

"I met him in the Underworld Coliseum!" Leon sputtered. "He must have followed me back here!"

Axel didn't decide to explain how he'd followed him back, but nodded. A fresh wave of bickering and weapon posturing immediately broke out.

In the end, they were sitting more or less quietly at the table, with Merlin stroking his beard and thinking. "So, you are once again looking for your heart." He repeated again. "That is understandable. You do not seem to be going about it in a hostile fashion, but then I have never subscribed to Yen Sid's more extremist analysis, great magician though he may be."

Donald looked mildly huffy but had been long banned from saying anything until Merlin was sure he'd worked through all the problems.

"I still don't understand why exactly you want my help." Sora muttered, at the risk of being silenced as well.

"Would you rather I force you to kill more Heartless so I can attempt another Kingdom Hearts?" Axel shot at him smoothly. Naturally, he knew well he couldn't even if he wanted to, but Sora didn't seem to have a further argument for the suggestion. He muttered something under his breath that was more than likely a negative, but otherwise held his tongue.

"That's another question that I have." Merlin interjected. "How many more of you might be back?"

"I'm very sure that there aren't any more high-level Nobodies existing again." Axel replied firmly.

"I'll have to take your word for it." Merlin pursed his lips. "More importantly, you wish for a Heart. What ideas do you have for trying to obtain one."

"I don't. That's why I'm here."

"I'm afraid that people don't just make Hearts." Leon pointed out rationally.

"Gawsh, I think we've seen a heart made before, haven't we Sora. By Doctor…Frank…no, Fickle, no, Funkle..."

Sora's eyes widened. "Goofy's right! Dr. Finklestein made a heart…but it was to control the Heartless. And…it wasn't very pretty." He thought about how Axel would feel with that giant, stitched together mess of a heart thumping away in his chest. It would probably squish his lungs with every beat.

"Nevertheless, it's a place for us to start looking." Merlin said rationally. "If this doctor knows how to make a heart, perhaps we can utilize the recipe for our new friend here. You can take Axel here to Halloween town, and see what he has to say. First things first, though: it is late, and we all need our rest. It's been a day. You may stay here tonight, Axel." He added to the Nobody, who nodded his thanks.

Most of the others looked a fair bit upset by this pronouncement, but none of them dared to question Merlin.

"Aerith, why don't you show our guest to his room."

* * *

Aerith had never dealt with Axel or indeed any of Organization XIII before, but knew the term 'Nobody' and the threats attached to it well enough. Nonetheless, it wasn't in her nature to be properly terrified or rude to someone who she really didn't know too well.

"Here you are." She handed him a few articles of clothing. "I'm sorry, they'll be big, but Cid's the only person here who is even near as tall as you are. Sleep well!"

As she had been the only individual thus far besides Merlin himself not to treat him like some sort of disease, Axel favored her with a smile. Of course, he didn't particularly care one way or another outside of getting what he wanted, but he was supposed to be being 'good', wasn't he? "Thanks! I'm very grateful for the crash space."

She returned the smile and closed the door behind her when she left, leaving him alone to get changed in private.

Axel changed quickly, the pants had a drawstring, but were meant for a much larger man and were laughably baggy, while the shirt hung on his thin frame like a tent. He looked ridiculous, but it was better than sleeping in his Organization coat, and no one would see him.

Of course, he was wrong on that last count; he jumped in surprise as a jet of the same painfully intense blue flames suddenly sprouted out of nowhere.

"Kid!" Hades leered at Axel with such jubilance as though they were meeting for the first time in many years. "As they say: I was just in the neighborhood, and thought I'd drop by."

"I doubt that." Axel crossed his arms, instantly on guard.

"You know now that you mention it, there was something important. I've come to deliver a little message: Too bad, so sad, you're coming back with me for eternity."

If Axel had had a heart, it would have stopped. "What?! I haven't done anything wrong, and tomorrow we're going to try out an idea for getting my heart back. I'm abiding by all the rules." The sleeve of the t-shirt hung to his elbow as he pointed frantically.

"Hmmm…" Hades grinned a grin that Axel was far too familiar with, having worn it himself on more than one occasion. "Is that so? I seem to recall that lying is a dirty, filthy sin, kid. Or did you miss that lesson with mummy and daddy?"

"I haven't been lying," Axel narrowed his eyes. "and Nobodies don't have parents. Or have you forgotten?" Even though he was walking on thin ice, Axel couldn't help but rise to the challenge.

"They don't have emotions either." The god returned smoothly. "But I seem to recall you informing that young lady who was just here that you were indeed 'grateful'."

Axel's brain wheeled. Of course Hades would find a loophole like that. He was going to have to think really fast if he wanted to save face. If he'd been cold and emotionless to Aerith, he would have broken his promise to conform to moral standards. But, by pretending to have emotional reactions, he was 'lying'.

"But I…" There had to be a way around the problem. He backed up as Hades advanced on him, stumbling against an end table that was next to the bed.

"Oh, not to worry…" The god said airily, waving a hand, but his grin seemed to get even more twisted and manic if that was possible. "It's not as bad as it sounds. It's worse."

"I was just…" Axel tried again, playing for time. Hades caught the front of his oversize t-shirt.

"You'll be reunited with all your little friends. You should see what I have them all doing. It'll be such fun to devise your torment. I'm excellent at that kind of a thing…well, of course I am. I'm a god!"

It was hard to think with Hades going on like that. Axel had to concentrate, had to focus.

"So, we'll be off, shall we?"

Axel groaned. Just seeing anyone from Organization XIII again sounded like punishment enough. Wait. That was it. "They know!"

"Pardon me?"

"They, the people here, they already know that I don't have emotions! So…so it's not a lie!" His voice got stronger and he delivered the last like a triumphant battle yell, pushing the over-heated hands from his shirt.

Hades was rooted to the spot and the Nobody made sure to get as far away as he could in the tiny room, as his once-blue skin turned an angry red, the flames that comprised his 'hair' deepening to the same sort of furious orange colour of Axel's own fire magic. The temperature in the room was getting to be nigh unbearable.

"I'm so sor-ry!" Axel mocked in a kind of sing-song voice, knowing that the god was apoplectic with rage at being outsmarted. In retrospect, it probably wasn't the smartest thing to have done, but Axel was at least confident now that he could take the gamble and likely win.

"Yes. Well." Hades forced his anger under control with apparent effort, and as the room returned to a more livable atmosphere; Axel noticed the edge of the lacy frill on the bed was tinged with a bit of black soot. "Don't forget kid, I'm still keeping my eye on you."

Just like that, the God was gone again. Axel sank down on the bed, pondering his narrow escape. He'd have to watch his step from here on out.

To Be Continued...


	4. Chapter 4

**Title:** Social Suicide

**Author:** Lost Experiment

**Rating:** PG-13 ish. (T)

**Warnings/Pairings:** If you haven't beaten KH2 or played Chain of Memories there could be some spoiler issues. There are no pairings in this particular chapter, but this fic will end up containing a relationship between Axel, Roxas and Sora, or rather…well, I'll leave it up to you to work out the eventual capacities, and start providing proper warnings when it's appropriate to do so.

**Disclaimer:** Kingdom Hearts is the intellectual property of Disney and Square Enix. Disney's Hercules is...well, the intellectual property of Disney.

**Summary:** Axel had only switched sides to see Roxas one last time but Hades doesn't have to know that, as the consequences of helping save the world have afforded Axel one more chance to find his heart…that is if he doesn't screw up first.

**Author's Notes:** …Wow. I'm getting back to this.

* * *

**Chapter Four**

_That first night Axel dreamed, it was not about Roxas. As a matter of fact, it became quite apparent quite quickly that it was not in fact a dream he was experiencing, but rather a vivid memory, choosing to play itself out behind his eyelids in realistic detail. _

_Had Axel not seen as much of the world as he had, he would have entertained thoughts of hyperaware REM sleep or drug hallucinations (and by this point he mightn't have put it past Leon or even, in a true fit of judgementalness – the duck – to have drugged him with something that would leave him in a weakened state.)_

_"You know, Red, the numbers don't mean shit."_

_Axel looked up from where he'd been dithering about by the fridge. The kitchen that Never Was he thought dryly._

_"Also, it's okay to eat."_

_The then-new Number Eight had taken to Nobodyism well, but was not completely immune to the pitfalls that his seven predecessors and the others to follow would and had suffered from. The expression presently on his face was eerily reminiscent of a new corporate hire who had just been caught looking in the break room fridge for the communal cream to put in his coffee when his boss walked in. As a matter of fact that was exactly what he had been up to. Coffee and all._

_"So…"_

_"Essentially, these people looked deep in your soul and assigned you a number based on the order in which you joined."_

_"You mean we're just here because of a sense of belonging?"_

_"That's the no-fun way to put it, but yeah, right on."_

_Axel hadn't gotten the reference and gave up puzzling it halfway through the coffee. The important thing was that he had gotten the coffee. Later, Marluxia had gotten to that point faster, but Axel didn't worry about that aspect of it. Not that he could if he'd wanted to. Still, it had been about that time that Xemnas had taken to fits of narcolepsy. "Sleeping" was what the Scientists were calling it, except Xigbar who had referred to it a "fucking around". Whatever it was exactly, it marked the beginnings of the mutterings of dissention amongst them. _

_While Marluxia might not have required Xigbar to explain to him that the numbers doled out to the members of the Organization were merely a superficial system based on joining order, he'd also taken the next logical step and come to realize that the one that did matter was not infallible or perhaps seemed to know no more than they themselves did. He wasted no time in rallying his own troops._

_"Larxene?"_

_"Yes, Axel?" Larxene had the habit of behaving like she was interested in you, in the same way some women liked to cozy up to men at a bar in the hopes of a free drink._

_"Castle Oblivion? With Marluxia? Really?"_

_"Jealous? Or are you just interested to know why?"_

_That settled it. Larxene hadn't figured it out – she wanted a number two spot in Marluxia's Organization, for much the pettiest reasoning imaginable. Xigbar didn't tease her to show rank, he teased her because he fucked around with everybody. _

_As to the rest of the neophytes, Saix and Luxord were loyal, while Demyx cozied up to whomever would provide him with the most protection – not of course, out of any weakness, but because he viewed the whole business as nothing more than a meal ticket and a bed to sleep in. Hence he stuck by Xemnas, who gave him the odd mission, but wasn't around enough to know he didn't really care to work much. Axel knew he'd gotten things right when Saix started to focus rage on him. Nobody, (pun not intended) could figure him out, and that was the way he liked it. _

_"Fence sitting bastard." Saix growled and shoved his Claymore in Axel's face, the tip scraping him and drawing a thin line of blood from his cheekbone._

_"Ooh, are we posturing now?" Axel let one of his Chakrams spin idly in his hands, just enough darkness to have it take on form. He let his voice take on a somewhat pompous quality reminiscent of the Superior. "I'm of the opinion that being a fence-sitting-bastard is quite a bit more industrious and useful to my well being than being an ass-licking blind follower."_

_Predictably, Saix took the whole thing as a dire threat. The ensuing fight was actually something Axel's ego had tried very hard to forget. He might actually have to go on ahead and train himself up a bit before checking out the whole Oblivion mess. _

* * *

Breakfast in Radiant Garden was an altogether tense affair. Donald had made it immediately clear that he wanted nothing to do with the Nobody, Leon agreed, and neither Goofy nor Aerith could deter them from roundly abusing the absent Axel.

"Maybe he took off in the night?" Leon suggested hopefully, gesturing to the empty seat at the table where much to his displeasure, Aerith had set a place at.

"Unlikely." Donald scoffed. "He would have tried to take Sora's heart if he had. You didn't kill any Nobodies last night, did you?"

Axel was about to step forward and reveal himself, hopefully with some pithy remark or aspersion on Leon's ability to kill Nobodies, but Merlin chose that moment to turn around, a mildly reproving expression on his face.

"Gentlemen, may I remind you of the sorts of problems other worlds have run into by segregating their population? Organization XIII was 13 out of possible hundreds of Nobodies. I'm sure that there were more than thirteen individuals who were strong-hearted enough to keep their human form after they lost their hearts, and those are people we should be helping, not suspecting."

"But…"

"But the ol' man's right. Sit down 'n' shut up, Duck." Cid interrupted. "I got some personal experience with these matters an' there ain't nothing worse than pre-judging someone only t' find out you were all kinds of wrong later."

Axel walked in before the conversation could continue. He already had a lot to think about.

"Shit." Cid muttered, and Goofy gave him what was probably meant to be a reproachful stare for the cursing, but really just came off looking hang-dog. Axel pretended he hadn't heard any of it.

"Good Morning."

"Gawrsh. Good mornin' Axel."

"What's so…" Donald jerked suddenly as though he'd been kicked. Sora was doing a horrible job of looking innocent, but the mage rephrased himself. "Good morning, Axel."

Axel nodded and actually smiled when Aerith handed him a plate. "Looks like Radiant Garden is doing well for itself." He paused. "I mean the fried steak. Haven't had this in awhile.

"What'd they feed you in the World that Never Was?" Sora piped up.

"Don't remember it from Roxas?" the words were out before he could stop himself, but Sora didn't seem to notice and shook his head. "Oh, well, y'know – this and that. Whatever we wanted really. We could send Dusks out to worlds and get it for us."

"That sounds an awful lot like stealin'."

Axel frowned. "Guess it was, but there wasn't a lot of remorse we could have felt."

"I guess not."

Donald appeared to be suffering an aneurism.

"So. Guess we're all headed to Halloween Town." Sora swiftly changed the subject. "You ever been?"

"Not at all. Xemnas never sent me out that way. Saix liked it, so I'll try not to judge it too harshly."

To his credit, Sora again didn't flinch at the mention of the person who had caused him so much grief. "So who was it…?"

"Besides Saix? Luxord, sometimes Demyx."

"Demyx?" Sora snorted.

"You'd be surprised. He made a fantastic zombie according to Luxord."

The look on Sora's face at that statement was so unbelievably reminiscent of Roxas' that Axel nearly choked. Fortunately, no one seemed to notice.

"Ah, so you know about the form change. That saves some trouble."

"Uh, yeah. Yeah"

"If I could ask a question before you four leave, Axel? I hope it isn't too personal."

"No emotions, not a problem."

"Well, could you tell me, if you remember, what world it is your other came from?"

"Long destroyed. I'm sorry Merlin."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"I'm afraid I can't have any regrets about it."

An uncomfortable silence passed after that statement, where Sora looked at Axel for a long moment and he wanted to feel something so badly. There was nothing, however. Had he been away from Roxas too long that whatever that weird bond had been was no longer working?

"…Axel?"

"What?"

"I asked are you ready to go?"

"Yeah…yeah I am."

* * *

The ride over was uneventful, and speedy. Sora's driving had improved dramatically over the years, and Axel figured he could get used to gummi ships, particularly when the trip wasn't spent under Leon's bed.

"Beats the hell out of portals." Axel remarked. "Betwixt and Between was like watching a strobe light. Really irritating really fast."

Sora had been to enough worlds now that he actually caught what Axel was talking about. "It was enough to have been there…once." Again the awkward moment caught up with them. Axel was saved the trouble of having to come up with something to dispel it by walking out of the Gummi Ship and allowing the magic of Halloween Town to catch up with him.

"So what do I look like?" Axel gazed around. Sora seemed to be some sort of mini demon, with fangs and a death shade over his eyes. Donald appeared to be a mummy and Goofy a Frankenstein's monster. The Nobody brought up one hand to scratch his… fuzzy ear? "You must be kidding me." Craning his neck around the best he could confirmed it. He had a tail as well. He wasn't sure whether to laugh or be indignant. Either way, Saix would have shit bricks.

"Werewolf, I think." Sora confirmed it. "C'mon. Dr. Finklestein is this way."

The trio lead the way, leaving Axel to look around at the scenery. Creepy. He liked it. The Doctor in question was interesting – he had to sit in a wheel chair as he couldn't support the weight of his giant cranium under his own power. Jack Skellington, who was also there, greeted all of them with such enthusiasm that Axel – had he met the…man? Skeleton? On his own, he would never have thought he could competently scare Children, or whatever his job was.

"We need you to try and make a heart for Axel." Sora was explaining.

"Oh I can't do that." Dr. Finklestein waved them off immediately.

"What? Why not!?" Axel rather thought he might be touched if he could be at the effort Sora was putting in on his behalf.

"As usual, the biggest problem is Oogie. He's stolen Sally's Forget-Me-Nots. I haven't the foggiest clue what he plans to use them for, but it's something terrible I expect. We can't make a heart of any kind until we get them back."

Axel, having known Marluxia knew better than to question the power that blossoms could have. He remained silent.

"Haven't we beaten him twice now?" Donald groused. "Why don't you just kick him out!"

"Well, it's just not a scary Halloween without the boogie man. Besides, he pays his taxes and so long as he does, the Mayor can't do anything about it."

"But you can't try and make me a heart without these flowers of your girlfriend's he's stolen?"

"That's the issue."

Axel grinned a particularly fang-y grin and his eyes flashed yellow in the lamplight. "I'm pretty good at sneaking around. I think I can get your stuff back." The fire in the lamps burned a little higher. "C'mon Sora, let's see how much of that mission talent you remember."

Donald started angrily. "Sora's the leader! You can't order him around!"

"Gee, Donald, I think Axel's got a plan. Isn't that right, Axel?"

"Uh-huh. But it'll work better the less people go. Besides, if we run into trouble…"

"You wouldn't run into trouble if me and Goofy were going with Sora instead of you."

"If we run into trouble." Axel repeated louder. "It's better to have some backups."

Sora cut Donald off. "It's okay. I promise. We'll be fine Donald."

The mage folded his arms and sighed as Sora and Axel decided unspoken that while he was distracted by Goofy trying to smooth things over, they would get started.

"The guy lives here? And here I was thinking that Xemnas had a flair for the ostentatiously dramatic."

Sora actually laughed. "You didn't like him much, did you?"

"Like's a difficult thing for Nobodies, but I preferred people who pontificated less."

"You mean you liked to hear the sound of your own voice and he could talk louder."

Axel shook his head in bewilderment. It was almost a good sign, he thought. Sure, Sora was probably like any guy, but he seemed softer-spoken around his other friends. Here he seemed more like Roxas had. "Smart-ass. Ready to go snooping?"

Sora nodded and they picked a door at random. "Ugh, kitchen." Axel opened a few cupboards without closing them and peered inside a steaming cauldron. "The hell is this?"

"I wouldn't eat that if I were you."

"Well, this cookbook is informing me that it's snake and spider stew. I'm really not in a tearing hurry to…"

"I dare you to try it." The words were out of Sora's mouth before he could stop them.

"Challenge accepted." Axel laughed, and to Sora's horror, he actually picked up a nearby spoon and ate a small bite. The effect was instantaneous. He gagged and spat it out.

"Disgusting." Axel wheezed, while Sora laughed.

Then, everything went suddenly black.

* * *

When Axel came to, he was tied to of all things, a roulette wheel. He could look around and saw Sora next to him.

"Shit." He muttered, gazing at the various horrible implements that lined the walls of the wheel.

"Axel, how are you at games of chance?"

The Nobody thought of the money he'd lost to Luxord over the years. "Horrible."

"How did I know you'd say that?"

To Be Continued…


	5. Chapter 5

**Title:** Social Suicide

**Author:** Lost Experiment

**Rating:** PG-13 ish. (T)

**Warnings/Pairings:** If you haven't beaten KH2 or played Chain of Memories there could be some spoiler issues. I'm here to tell a story that isn't necessarily a romantic one, but it does and will contain pairings of both a heterosexual and homosexual nature. Presently, Riku and Kairi are the only established couple. This chapter also contains speculation on the events of Birth By Sleep and the secret ending of KH2.

**Disclaimer:** Kingdom Hearts is the intellectual property of Disney and Square Enix.

**Summary:** Axel had only switched sides to see Roxas one last time but Hades doesn't have to know that, as the consequences of helping save the world have afforded Axel one more chance to find his heart…that is if he doesn't screw up first.

**Author's Notes:** Yes, I do update and no I'm not dead. I'm preparing for a move to Scotland (and I currently live in Canada), so I write when I can get the chance. I hope you'll enjoy it anyway and find it in your hearts to Review. (If you've got 'em that is.)

* * *

**Chapter Five:**

When his head had cleared enough for him to determine where he was and what he was doing tied up, Sora quickly came to the conclusion that he and Axel had foolishly made more than enough noise for anyone to come creeping up on them. He supposed it was fortunate that in spite of previous dealings with them, Oogie had never lost his penchant for dramatic flair in his choice of torments.

Next to him, Axel's face had become nothing more than a blank, emotionless slate, so Sora couldn't tell whether he was worried or bluffing about his thoughts on their current predicament. Either way, the important thing to do was try to stall whatever 'game of chance' was in store for them as long as possible.

"This guy loves the sound of his own voice." Sora mumbled out of the corner of his mouth, watching as Oogie lumbered around above them, poking at levers and buttons. "Gotta keep him talking." The Keyblade Master snapped his lips together the moment Oogie turned around, but their captor didn't seem to have heard his whispered directions.

"Well, well. Seems like I've caught a couple of unlucky trespassers." The monster locked his eyes with one prisoner, then the other as he continued to pace. "…and what might you be wantin' in my kitchen, boys?"

"Hmmm. Now isn't that interestin'." Changing tacks, Oogie leaned over the rail of the wheel and Axel's nostrils were assailed with an earthy rotting stench and the smell of damp burlap as their faces were pressed close. He gazed back impassively. "Trading the usual parasites in for a newer model?"

"Something like that." Axel's lips quirked up in the first display of anything resembling responsiveness since they'd been captured and the words were out before Sora could snap an indignant reply of his own.

The only reply was a seemingly disinterested shrug, which was a good thing in Sora's books. It likely meant that Oogie's actions were of his own volition and he wasn't working for anyone, particularly someone tied to some remnant of Maleficent or the Organization. Both of whom would have directed anyone in their employ to seize on any opportunity for their favorite tactic, namely causing a rift between Sora and his companions. It didn't make their situation any less of a threat, but it did ensure that this was more of a setback than a clue that an evil of epic proportions had been revived.

"Why'd you steal from Sally?" Sora blurted, halting Oogie's 'hand' in its march towards a particularly dangerous-looking skull-topped lever.

In response, the laughter that followed Sora's question went off like a atom bomb explosion in the cavernous chamber. "Is this what this is all about? They're so pathetic that they have to send in you just to get the stupid flowers back?"

"If they're so stupid, why'd you take them?" It was getting childish, but Sora was thinking as hard as he could and still didn't see a feasible way of getting them out of the mess. Not with his hands and feet tied and his keyblade discarded far out of his reach. He certainly didn't want to be killed over a ridiculous error. Just what had possessed him to even think that it might be a good idea to pal around with Axel like they were best friends, anyway?

"Unless…" The wide flap that comprised the mouth opened wide, taking in a deep rattling breath. A particularly fat cockroach crawled out. "Now, this couldn't have anything to do with creating a heart for your poor heartless friend here, would it?"

Even Axel's eye twitched at that. For all that the creep came off as a self-absorbed blow hard, it was easy to forget just how shrewd Halloween Town's longtime antagonist could be.

The silence lasted about a second too long before Sora and Axel spoke at the same time.

"Not a chance."

"Something like that."

As Oogie laughed at them, Sora had reached the end of his patience.

"Nice job you jerk." He immediately wished he hadn't snapped as the Nobody's green eyes lit up like the flames the Organization had nicknamed him for. Sora had only about a split second warning before the entire place erupted into flames. For a brief terrifying moment, Sora had the impression that Axel had done a repeat performance of his kamikaze blast but very quickly he found that he had more immediate chaos to worry about.

"My eyebrows!" Sora wailed, clamping his free but rapidly blistering hands to his face that was now free of most of his facial hair. Not the most pressing of his worries, but it certainly stung like a bitch.

"Fucking flowers!" was Axel's cry, ignoring Sora's wounded pride and watching helplessly as the dead forget-me-not blossoms tumbled from Oogie's burning burlap fingers into a long tongue of flame. Naturally, they were incinerated instantly like so much tinder.

"Forget them! Let's get out of here!" After recovering from the initial shock of pain and embarrassment, Sora fortunately had not had to look far to locate his keyblade, propelled along the ground by some unfortunate beetles who seemed to want nothing more than to get out of the blaze. Once free of their burden, they did not attack but rather scuttled into whatever dank cracks and hidey holes they could still find.

Axel didn't need to be told twice, but he grabbed Sora and pushed him behind him. Before the shorter man could protest, the flames parted like a curtain before Axel and they closed behind him too, leaving the evil domicile and its master to crumble to a smoking crater yet again. Sora had little doubt that the Master of the darkest parts of the world would rebuild himself in time but although he wouldn't admit it to Axel, right now he was merely relieved.

"At least Jack will be happy that he won't have to deal with Oogie Boogie for awhile." Sora commented, more for himself than Axel's sake. He always felt badly for the things he defeated as a Keyblader, even if they were cruel, evil and would probably rise again without a lesson learned.

"So, I guess there's no way to get more of these special flowers for this heart I was supposed to be made, huh?"

Sora looked over at Axel. He had been planning on saying something like 'And whose fault is that, hm?', but what came out was: "I really don't think it would have worked anyway."

Axel said nothing and he could have been imagining it, but he thought he saw the Nobody frown out of the corner of his eye, after he thought his back was turned.

* * *

"Garwsh, what are we gonna do now?" Goofy gave Sora an expression that could only be described as hangdog.

"Stupid Nobody." Donald groused. "Lazybones should be out here helping us."

Sora had explained what had happened when they'd arrived back, making it sound as though Axel had had no other choice but to burn the place down in order to facilitate their escape. Thinking about it later, he decided that he probably had. It had not deterred another argument from breaking out but fortunately with Sally and Jack around it had not lasted long.

When they had returned to the ship, Axel had headed off to the quarters he'd claimed as his own and a general sullenness had fallen over the remainder of the companions. They were presently floating in Gummi space with the trinity napping in shifts. Nobody wanted to bother antagonizing Axel, so he remained locked away in his cabin doing whatever it was he was doing. It was Midnight in Radiant Garden and Merlin and the others would be asleep anyway, so they planned to orbit Halloween Town while they whiled away the hours.

Sora's mind had travelled back briefly to the earlier events, wondering how he'd been so careless around Axel. For a few moments he had wondered if Donald had been right and Axel was working on some master plan to separate Roxas from him, but after a few moments of silently yelling for 'Roxas' to 'come out' in his head, he felt stupid and stopped. Roxas was as much a part of him as he'd ever been since they'd reunited.

It was when Donald was asleep that Goofy broached the subject.

"You know, I think Axel seems a little different."

Sora glanced off towards the closed door of the cabin, replaying the events of the previous action packed few hours in his head. Axel had limited his displays of "emotion" when he had been around others to large, open displays of grandeur that made sure everyone knew exactly what he felt he was supposed to be experiencing. Sora wasn't sure why he did it, but he imagined it was probably an attempt to try and quell lingering suspicions about his motives. However, more recently he'd caught little private moments where the reactions had seemed more natural, not thought out. Perhaps even human. "Maybe."

"Maybe you should go talk to him."

Sora heaved a sigh. Goofy never threw fits like Donald and he often couldn't remember simple names or phrases, but when he made suggestions out of the clear blue like this, you learned to listen. He wasn't sure he wanted to talk to the Nobody right now though, but he didn't exactly want to put it off either. When he knocked on the cabin door, Axel's drawl floated through almost immediately.

"C'mon in."

* * *

Sora sat cross legged on the only patch of available floor space in Axel's "room". The Nobody had been aboard the Highwind for less than a day and already his living quarters had become a total disaster area. That wasn't even counting the time they'd spent locked in Oogie Boogie's dungeon in Halloween Town. After getting over the eyebrow thing and focusing on the part where he'd escaped with his life however, Sora was feeling somewhat more charitable towards the redheaded shell of a man than he had previously.

"So that puts you in my debt twice." Axel grinned and to his surprise, Sora found himself returning the grin, the tension between them breaking down. Goofy's words echoed in the back of his mind. Maybe it was his imagination, but that smile did seem more natural than it had before.

"Yeah, saving the worlds from your crazy ex-boss counts for nothing."

Axel replied by moving some of the clutter off the small single bed and taking a seat, holding a small item between his fingers. He seemed to be contemplating it quite intensely, a frown creasing his features.

"Here." He said after a moment, holding it out to Sora.

"Where…did you get this?" The Keyblade master turned the keychain over in his fingers as it dawned on him that this 'clutter' that Axel kept was not just a mess. It was a hoard. His first thought was that Axel had stolen it from Halloween Town, but this was not the kind of keychain that belonged to a world. This keyblade had the feel of Oathkeeper or Oblivion to it; it was clearly a weapon that had been of great significance to its user. "It belonged to another Keyblader, didn't it."

Axel nodded, his tone careful. "It did."

"Was it Roxas'?"

"No. It was a Keyblade Master who I…"

"You killed him?"

"Her. And you could say that, though it was officially Xigbar who delivered the finishing…"

"Shut up!" Sora snapped, his mind reeling. Riku and Kairi had keyblades too, so that part wasn't a big surprise. Nevertheless, despite the fact that logically it made perfect sense that there must have been men and women before him who had taken up the post of Keyblade Master, hearing that in some cases the bad guys had been successful against them shook him. He wondered what else Axel's past was hiding. "Was she important to you?" he asked, thinking of his relationship with Kairi and Riku.

"No." Axel didn't seem to care how cold it sounded or how much more that simple answer had unnerved Sora, but he did continue. "She was my bodyguard. His bodyguard. Whatever." His face took on the same expression it had a few moments ago. "She wasn't like you or Roxas though."

"Xigbar…" Sora repeated. "He was the one with the eyepatch, wasn't he?"

"Uh-huh."

"He told me that 'the keyblade picked a dud'." Sora shrugged. "I thought he was trying to psyche me out."

Axel pursed his lips. "You weren't like the others."

"Well?"

"It's a pretty standard story. Kingdom starts training up strong and celebrated zen warriors, someone wantin' a little more glory figures out Darkness is pretty powerful stuff, they go bad, people die. Like I said, pretty standard stuff."

Sora made a face. "Still don't get what the big difference is."

"You ever had military training?"

"I…did a little bit in the Land of Dragons. With Ping, er, Mulan and Mushu." Sora was beginning to feel a little foolish, the way he had used to when Riku bested him at something when they were children.

"That's a negatory, good buddy."

Feeling a deeper twinge of inadequacy that was completely unwarranted (He had been the one to restore light to the worlds, right?) Sora made a face. "Yeah, so what?"

"So, I'm saying that Keybladers used to be a thing. Like an army."

"Like what Riku and Kairi are doing?"

Axel's expression did not fill him with confidence.

"But Riku knows that the Darkness…he won't let anyone be…"

Axel shook his head. "The Darkness is a funny thing."

* * *

_"Intelligence states that the five research scientists who fled Radiant Garden are indeed on other worlds." The Keyblade Master Terra's apprentice Una sat quietly, listening to the briefing with an unreadable expression and the knowledge she was only the latest addition to a string of ill fated companions of the once celebrated warrior "The whereabouts of the Princess Kairi are unknown, but she is believed to have been kidnapped by the entities we are now calling "Nobodies". Yen Sid has since expanded the definition into two subcategories: low and high. The High is what you will be debriefed on today. Their shapes have evolved into shapes resembling anatomically accurate human beings and they have successfully used this disguise to infiltrate our ranks. "_

_"Sir, reports have been circulating that the Apprentice Keyblader Sai was indeed kidnapped and had his heart artificially removed. Several of the cadets in the maw state that a man resembling him was spotted with the Nobodies calling themselves Xemnas and Xaldin as they fled in the dark portals."_

_Terra sighed. "I hear he is now calling himself 'Saix'. He was the only one we know of to have survived the procedure. After Ven and Aqua, it truly compounds our terrible loss."_

_Both the Keyblade Master and his apprentice allowed their gazes to drift over to a nondescript door that was quietly hiding the extent of the horrors that already nearly destroyed the entirety of Radiant Garden in a mere matter of days. In the middle of the grey concrete prison beyond stood a simple wood coffin, ill fit for its occupant, but all they could spare._

_The blast of dark magic that had killed Ven had also frozen his half-destroyed face into a horrific expression of terror that ill-befitted his usually solemn countenance. In an equally sad state next to the death shroud, the once beautiful Aqua was now indistinguishable from any other husk of a soul whose heart had suffered these past few days. Una wondered if anyone else knew that her Master clung to the husk, hoping that perhaps they would happen upon something that would restore her heart._

_As for herself, the upheaval had affected her more deeply than a mere advancement in rank. She'd never been particularly close with any of the parties involved but they were all important parts of life in Radiant Garden. Everyone had loved Ansem the Wise, and it was difficult to imagine Braig or Elaeus (whose class she had actually taken once at the Bastion) as being murderers. The Inhabitants of their kingdom…no, their world, had looked up to Terra, Aqua and Ven to defend their town and it still felt more like a bad dream than bitter reality to imagine that only one of the celebrated Trio was in any fit state to save them._

_"That's what it is, isn't it?" she said, suddenly thinking aloud, even though it was something of a breach in protocol. "They have to be killed."_

_Terra nodded. "There's no other choice, but that will not be your immediate job. Xemnas and his group know that there will not be another opportunity to kidnap more of our number, particularly not with the violence that the other half of Xehanort's heart is displaying. This imposter 'Ansem' seems as intent on destroying the 'Nobody' side as he is on destroying this world."_

_On the desk behind the Keyblade Master was a long scroll. He moved to unroll it, gesturing for Una to come closer. Several large drawings resembling masses of land in the middle of dark skies decorated the surface of the page._

_"It's a map." _

_"Precisely. With the help of King Mickey, methods for travelling to these worlds have been devised, and with his aid you should be able to navigate the travel corridors we are calling 'Gummi Space'. Xemnas and his group will be visiting these worlds, looking for individuals whom they can turn to their cause – like Saix. It is not a stretch to imagine that they will soon bring the Low level Nobodies to their side as well, as a footsoldier army or worse. You must find these individuals before they do."_

_Una nodded, forcing herself to focus. If she had a skill that had brought her here, it was her ability to focus with precision on the tasks she was assigned. Terra knew that other apprentice Keybladers in his employ had more imaginative talent, but they were younger and didn't have the experience or the drive._

_"There are three known targets. The first is Liu Mara, soldier in the Land of Dragons. The second is a gentleman going by the name Rold U. This is a fake name, and he never gives a surname. Whether or not his name is fictional, he enjoys great luck at games of chance on this world here and has an impeccable track record of escaping the authorities. He spends quite a lot of time in a region known as "Pleasure Island". I would save him until last. Hopefully his reputation as lucky will keep him safe while the others are secured. Finally, the Prince Andrew E. Latmos III…"_

* * *

"I'm not sure that's how it actually happened." Axel said, his face screwed up into an expression of deep concentration, and not just merely because of Hades' threat. "I picked most of this up second hand, after Roxas left and I went digging."

"So that's it. A, E, L." Sora had to admit he'd always kind of wondered what Axel's name had been, none of the anagrams of the remaining letters had ever seemed right. "So, what happened? Were you already a Nobody when she arrived to help protect you?" Sora was actually looking interested, leaning forward without realizing he was actually eager to hear what the Nobody had to say on the matter.

Axel pressed his lips together and his expression became visibly closed off. It didn't surprise Sora that there were going to be parts of this story that Axel might not want to immediately talk about, however he wasn't about to let it drop entirely. Just for the time being.

"I think I've heard of Terra, Aqua and Ven before." He said aloud. "But that's impossible, because it didn't even really occur to me that there were other Keybladers around before me."

Axel shrugged. "I found it all in some computer in Radiant Garden."

"I haven't forgotten Tron." Sora mused. "I completely forgot that there must have been tons more information in that database. I'm just…" he trailed off, mumbling. "…kinda hopeless with computers."

"Not a problem." Axel fancied himself a bit of a hacker, particularly after slipping undetected into DiZ's Twilight Town. "It might help me too." He added, unsure if he had appeared to eager to spend more time with Sora.

The moment silence descended, a shrill ring sounded through the ship, followed by a shocked quack from an all too obviously roused Donald. His voice followed but it was a happy excitement. "Sora! It's Riku on the Communicator!"

Sora didn't even bother to excuse himself as he dashed into the hall. The Nobody had proved to be slightly better company than he imagined, but nobody took the place of his best friend.

_To Be Continued._


	6. Chapter 6

**Title:** Social Suicide

**Author:** Lost Experiment

**Rating:** PG-13 ish. (T)

**Warnings/Pairings:** If you haven't beaten KH2 or played Chain of Memories there could be some spoiler issues. Axel/Sora, Riku/Kairi. Boys kissing and allusions to sexual relationships. Side B is a side story that is not necessary to read to enjoy the main tale. It follows a Keyblader sent by Terra and the Radiant Garden Keyblade faction to try and protect some of the strong hearts on other worlds who are targets of the newly formed 'Organization'.

**Disclaimer:** Kingdom Hearts is the intellectual property of Disney and Square Enix. Disney's Hercules is...well, the intellectual property of Disney.

**Summary:** Axel had only switched sides to see Roxas one last time but Hades doesn't have to know that, as the consequences of helping save the world have afforded Axel one more chance to find his heart…that is if he doesn't screw up first.

**Author's Notes:** A double update. I own neither KH nor the Bad Religion song this fic is named for. As always, please review. It's your choice of course, but it sure gives me a smile – even if it's critique.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Sora's face lit up as Riku's face came into view on the communication screen. The years had done little to change him; he kept his hair long and he had long ago learned that growing a beard made him look ridiculous. In the background, Kairi waved up at him from where she was talking to two little girls, both of whom were holding keyblades.

"How was your honeymoon?" Sora asked.

Riku just grinned in a silly sort of way. "Oh you know. You were right though. Christmas Town is pretty unbelievable."

Remembering Axel's warnings, Sora looked over at the kids that Kairi was watching. "How's the keyblade training coming along?"

"Good." Riku's face turned serious. "We want to keep this relegated to kids, actually." He swallowed once and looked down. "There's…less temptation."

"It wasn't your—"

"Those two," Riku jerked a thumb behind him. "Are probably my best students. I usually get Kairi to look after them though. I'm thinking of maybe trying to train some mages and shield bearers."

To someone who didn't know him too well, Riku sometimes appeared somewhat misogynistic. This of course was not the case, as he would never have married Kairi had he hated women, nor would Kairi have put up with him. Riku did however have an inherent mistrust of older women and he had never quite gotten over his time spent in the Darkness. Sora knew this and could only try his best to reassure his best friend and encourage and foster gradual improvement over time. "They're going to learn a lot from you. It'll be good to have some help. Donald and Goofy appreciate it too."

"Speaking of which, Sora." There was the serious tone again. "I hear you have an extra passenger on your ship."

"I…" Sora realized that Riku had probably spoken to Leon and Aerith at some point. "Uh yeah."

Riku's mouth was set in a thin line but he was spared a tirade by the timely appearance of Kairi. "Sora! We've missed you."

"Not all the time." Sora put in slyly, and Kairi giggled.

"Fair enough. We'd like to see you though! Why don't you and Donald and Goofy stop by. Uh, and your extra passenger too, I guess."

The look on Riku\s face would have been funny had the circumstances been different.

"Um…"

"Come on, Sora. I won't take 'no' for an answer."

"So, who did the proposing to who?" he joked, trying to lighten the mood. "Guess our next stop is Destiny Islands."

"Actually," Riku put in, the ugly look on his face replaced by a sheepish looking blush. "Kairi did ask me."

Sora laughed. He couldn't say it surprised him.

Hades growled low, causing his minions to start backing away to get a head start on clearing off when he blew. The Nobody was doing a lot better than he thought, and now he was going to spend time around a Princess of Heart.

"What to do…what to do? Ah. I'll just do what any good villain does. Cheat!"

The idea was simple. He'd just offer up a bit of competition and conveniently not mention it to Axel. Any of the other Nobodies in the Underworld would work, but Hades was going to be picky. It had to be someone whom Axel 'despised'. Someone who got on his last nerve.

"Larxene, maybe?" he mused aloud but dismissed the idea quickly. She didn't annoy Axel quite enough and besides, tormenting the sadist with pain brought a great deal of joy to his divine existence. Zexion was a possibility as well. He liked the little schemer. Then again, there was always…

"Really, what I'm offering you is a chance to get your heart back." Hades smiled smoothly at the other former Nobody who gazed steadily back at him. "All you have to do is do that before Axel. Do whatever you like to get ahead. You're good at that, aren't ya?"

"It'll be my pleasure."

* * *

Kairi smiled pleasantly at Axel. Riku scowled but did very little otherwise, clearly not ready to behave in any untoward way in the presence of not only his wife and best friend, but the two most important knights of King Mickey, even if they were standing over by the gummi ship, allowing Sora the opportunity to reconcile somewhat privately with his two friends. Donald could be heard all the way down the road, complaining about how Axel had been included in the mix.

"So…" Axel began, but his attempt at breaking the tension didn't even get off the ground as there was a shriek behind him.

The four of them whirled to see the two little girls Sora had witnessed Kairi talking to on the communication screen earlier, running towards them. Both had their keyblades out. It was almost a disconcerting sight in person, Sora decided.

"That's a Nobody!" one of them shrieked. "We have to get it!"

Her silent companion evidently agreed with this sentiment as she followed closely on her friend's heels. Axel was so taken aback even he didn't seem to know what to do with himself, but Kairi cut in.

"Mei Xiang! Sharyn! Stop that! This is…" she glanced at Sora who nodded. "…a special friend. Remember what Riku taught you. Never attack unless provoked!"

The two would-be warriors came to a halt, looking shamefacedly at Riku. Riku looked as though he would rather they had cleaved Axel in two, but he nodded. "Attacking unprovoked or out of hatred of a thing is a good way to begin developing Darkness in your heart."

Mei Xiang, the quiet Chinese one who seemed like she might have come from the Land of Dragons turned to Axel with a polite bow. "I am sorry." Sora took the opportunity to look at her Keyblade. It did indeed have a dragon on the long part of the blade.

The other girl, Sharyn, Sora was further surprised to find that he actually kind of knew. Kairi had babysat her older sister when they were younger. She looked just like the girl who had lived on the main Island on their street. She bounded up to Axel like he was a novelty and looked up into his face as though her opinion of him was the only thing in the world that mattered. "Are you really a Nobody?" she asked.

"I am." Axel dropped to one knee and picked up her hand, putting it over the spot on his chest where his heart would be. "See? Nothing at all."

Sharyn looked thrilled by the whole excitement of the situation. "I thought Nobodies were bad! That's what Riku always says. He says they're tougher than Heartless and they lie."

"Well, that's true, but I'm trying to turn over a new leaf, you see." Axel kept his eye on the keyblade until it disappeared.

"You're able to do stuff with an element too. Like fire or water."

Sora could tell from Riku's face that he was not too enthusiastic about his charge's apparent interest in the Nobody, but he kept quiet. Axel on the other hand actually looked like he was enjoying himself. His fanclub now included the much quieter Mei Xiang, who was putting out the little puffs of flame Axel created with some ice magic.

"They've got good reflexes." Sora commented. "I didn't know you were teaching them magic as well."

Riku nodded. "I felt I should learn the right spells. They should have a full spectrum of abilities to work with. I'm not teaching them anything about the Darkness."

"You shouldn't be teaching them this stuff at all."

The three friends swung to face Axel who was staring off a short way down the beach, concentrating on creating his flames at points out of earshot of the still playing protégés.

"What exactly do you mean by that, Nobody?" Riku's temper was finally starting to get the best of him.

"I mean that no one can predict what kind of person will fall victim to the Darkness."

"People like you?" he snarled. "I know what kind of a person you used to be, Axel. A dictator and a murderer."

"My Other," Axel said, somewhat calmly. "may have been a dick, but he never did murder anyone. Now as for Nobodies, you might as well admit both you and Sora have just as much proverbial blood on your hands as I do if you think that kind of a straw man argument will get you anywhere. The last time a World created a Keyblade army, there was a war."

Riku twitched visibly. The damn heartless bastard had to be doing it on purpose. He knew that calm statement of fact and knowledge would drive Riku far crazier than sarcasm or joking around. "Sora, you agree don't you? You said it yourself. The help would be good."

Sora was starting to sweat. Riku was his best friend and he would defend him to the death, but the honest answer was that Axel probably had a point. Riku had been the Keyblade's original choice for a Master, but then what would have then happened in the worlds had their champion sunk into Darkness? "I guess you should just…be careful." He mumbled.

"I don't believe it." Riku growled. "Ansem is not directing my actions anymore. You've spent years trying to convince me that I'm healed. Now you're telling me that everyone should be careful around me?"

"Stop twisting my words!" Sora snapped. "I didn't say anything like that!"

Kairi took a breath to interject, but the other two men decided to storm off, as though they were fifteen and having a kid's fight again.

Axel blinked down at Kairi, unsure as to whether or not she would start yelling too. Possibly at him.

Instead she sighed. "As long as we're behaving like children, man, boys are dumb. They'll talk it out."

A small smile of something like mingled amusement and gratitude spread across Axel's face. "By the way, I'm sorry for that whole kidnapping thing, your Highness."

As Axel left her in a temporary state of stunned silence to follow Sora, Kairi couldn't help but feel that there was something different about the Nobody. She'd have to wait a few days before mentioning that revelation to Riku though. Hopefully he and Sora would reconcile themselves soon. They were best friends, it wouldn't be too hard to get them to make it up.

* * *

Axel didn't have to walk too far to find Sora, who was sitting in a park. The place was empty however there was a restaurant behind him where families were probably just sitting down to a nice dinner out.

"Hey, cheer up emo kid." Axel chuckled, coming up the plastic stairs of the playhouse where Sora was sitting.

"What?"

"Oh, just some expression from a world I went to once. Means 'stop moping'." He sat down awkwardly, long limbs crammed awkwardly into the limited space, meant to be shared by children rather than two full grown adults.

"I didn't mean to make him angry."

"You were right to say what you did. But I think you should make up with him." Axel actually had the nerve to put his hand under Sora's chin and force him to look up at him like he was five years old instead of a grown man. "Best friends are important. I should know."

Sora stared back at Axel, his heart pounding so hard he was shocked that Axel couldn't hear it. Roxas had been Axel's best friend. Did they talk about this? Did they fight? Was Axel right now looking at his face and imagining he was his Nobody?

"If something were ever to happen to Riku, you'd want him to know that you didn't mean your fight." Axel refused to let go of Sora, his voice serious and demanding. "That maybe there were more important things than…" the words 'The Organization' hung unsaid in the air.

It was a tense moment. Sora was paused with his face close to Axel's, torn between sympathy for him and niggling certainty that this had been some plan of the Nobody's all along to get to Roxas. Who was Axel, really? Riku had called him a dictator. He'd watched this entity mow down his own comrades without a second thought, kidnap a girl and ultimately give his own life so that he, Sora, could help save the world.

"Roxas really did mean something to you, didn't he?" Sora asked him. He really wasn't expecting an answer, but Axel took his hand away and started to pull away.

Sora didn't mean to do it. He'd meant to hug him. Sometimes people needed one and it didn't make you any less of a man. Instead, he pressed Axel's back up against the plastic wall of the jungle gym and kissed him.

All of Axel was almost unpleasantly warm, from his lips to the parts of Sora that brushed him, even through clothing. One of his hands found it's way to the small of his back, and that was enough for Sora's brain to catch up with his actions. He pulled away, intent on stammering an apology, but instead he looked down into Axel's utterly shocked face.

"So, did Roxas do it like that?" he asked.

"Roxas." There was a beat of silence. "Something like that, yeah."

There was a delicate cough behind them. They swung around to see Kairi watching the both of them, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly agape. "I think my face is going to get stuck like this." Was her only complaint.

Sora was just glad that Riku hadn't been with her at the time.

_To be continued_


	7. SIDE B

**Title:** Social Suicide – Side B

**Author:** Lost Experiment

**Rating:** PG-13 ish. (T)

**Warnings/Pairings:** Side B is a side story that is not necessary to read to enjoy the main tale. It follows a Keyblader sent by Terra and the Radiant Garden Keyblade faction to try and protect some of the strong hearts on other worlds who are targets of the newly formed 'Organization'. Contains speculation on where and who and what the Neophytes of the Organization used to be. Gen, does not contain pairings. Depending on how one views the creation of a Nobody, contains character death.

**Disclaimer:** Kingdom Hearts is the intellectual property of Disney and Square Enix. Disney's Hercules is...well, the intellectual property of Disney.

**Summary:** As war rages in Radiant Garden, long before Sora was ever the Keyblade Master, the former research assistants and a a Keyblader race to get their hands on the owners of strong hearts to reenforce the quality of their ranks.

**Author's Notes:** A double update. I own neither KH nor the Bad Religion song this fic is named for. As always, please review. It's your choice of course, but it sure gives me a smile – even if it's critique.

* * *

**Side B**

The Gummi Ship was boxy and handled about as impressively as it was built. Nonetheless, it was carrying its occupant between the worlds; a feat that had heretofore only been accomplished by the King of Disney Castle and she supposed, the Apprentices nowadays. Maybe she should have felt excited and proud that she was given this honour by Master Terra and Radiant Garden, however presently Una felt utterly ridiculous. In order to keep the ship flying, her face was painfully stretched into a big stupid smile, more appropriate to attending a party she didn't really want to be at in the first place.

"Whoever thought it would be a good idea to run a ship on happy faces?" she muttered, but kept on smiling anyway. Crashing the ship because she was actively questioning her orders was definitely not the accident she was interested in having.

Landing was an even more tricky procedure, but in the end she managed it. Exiting the ship, Una felt she had never seen a more defeated looking world. Unlike Radiant Garden which was being torn apart as Terra and the other Keybladers struggled in their war with the Nobody faction, this world was evidently under the iron fist of a dictator.

"Looks like I've got my work cut out for me." She said to no one in particular, gazing balefully around at the bleakness. Not a single part of this world seemed like it was allowed to be cheerful or fun or unique in any way.

As in response to her statement, there was a shout and a scrabbling of feet that shook Una from her thoughts. A man came barrelling down the street. He was in too great of a panic to take note of the fact that the woman he had nearly mowed down was dressed dramatically different than he was. "Run away! You have to run away, right now!" he gasped, catching her hand and trying to pull her along with him.

The reason for his panic was made immediately clear; three Heartless punctuated his statement by coming into view in pursuit.

"It's okay. I'll help you." She explained in what she imagined to be a calming voice.

"No! You have to—"

The appearance of Una's keyblade was enough to get the man to stop his frantic rant, and he watched with an unflattering expression of disbelief as Una quickly and efficiently dispatched the three Shadows.

"Are you okay?" she asked the man kindly, who seemed to be having a rather bad day all around.

"Yes." He managed, after a lengthy pause, apparently coming to terms with what he'd just seen. "Thank you! You killed them. You actually destroyed them! The most the palace soldiers can do is beat them back. How?" he answered his own question as his gaze strayed to the Keyblade in her hand and without warning he grabbed her wrist to look at it, in spite of the invasion of her personal space. Una allowed it. Even back in Radiant Garden many were curious, including the other keyblade bearers themselves. Each weapon was unique to his or her user.

"I'm a Keblader." She gave her wrist a little shake to indicate her weapon. "A type of soldier myself. I'm here to protect your Prince." The moment the man had touched her hand, the Keyblade had reacted. A positive reaction, deep and lingering and with a shock she realized she'd had that exactly same reaction one other time, when Aeleus had visited a training procedure and she had gotten to shake his hand. He'd asked to see her keyblade then, to take notes for research.

She chewed the inside of her lip, grateful for the man's preoccupation while she thought. Eventually she dismissed the occurrence. It meant he was an uncommonly good person was all and so was Aeleus before those experiments. This guy seemed like someone other people liked and listened to. "Uh, my name's Una."

"Dyme." His gaze turned guarded and he adopted the shifty-eyed look of someone who didn't wish to be overheard. "I'm a bard. Not a palace bard, the regular sort. If you're here to protect the Prince however: good luck."

"Thank you, Dyme, I'll keep that in mind."

They parted ways after that. The brief exchange with Dyme had given her rather a lot to think about. The first issue was that her initial impression about the state of the monarchy seemed to be correct. This Prince bloke was definitely no Ansem the Wise or King Mickey. The second issue was that funny feeling she had gotten around Dyme. It was still bothering her in spite of her decision to put it out of her mind. She thought back to the other apprentices. She'd met Braig once or twice too, but she hadn't been carrying her keyblade with her then. Hadn't Dilan once come out to watch the training? She hadn't gotten near enough through the crowd of other Keybladers to shake his hand or anything like that.

There was one more. Sai, or Saix as he must now be called. He'd sparred with her dozens of times during practices. No, Sai had never ever given her any of those sorts of reactions. A tiny corner of her mind nagged at her that deep positive feelings were not what she would be focusing on during a fight, but she couldn't afford to think of it any longer.

* * *

She was on her way towards the palace, working out in her mind what kind of explanation she would give to get inside and see the monarch when she was approached by two men in full body armour and perched atop horses. As they drew closer, she could see that the one on the left had two riders.

"Is this the one?"

Dyme looked down at Una apologetically. "Yes, Sir."

"The…what did you call her?"

"A…um, key…"

"Keyblader?" Una asked, perking up as she began to understand what was going on. This could actually work in her favour.

"So you don't deny you are the one who defeated the black creatures?"

"Yes, I did and I am further capable of demonstration."

"She saved my life!" Dyme felt obliged to point out, much to Una's pleasure. The Bard really was making life a lot easier for her.

"You will come to the palace immediately. The Prince wishes to speak with you."

Una climbed up behind the second rider and made a noise of protest as the first turfed Dyme out of the saddle like a sack of flour. Before she could become indignant on his behalf, the soldier spurred the horse forward into a gallop towards the castle and she had to act quickly in order to find a handhold so she could stay aboard.

* * *

Una felt more like a prisoner under interrogation than someone who represented some kind of protection and hope. Nonetheless, she was a Keyblader and this was her mission, whether or not she liked it.

"I am Prince Andrew Edwards Latmos III, ruler of this world. I am charging you with the job of protecting myself and this palace."

_No, Master Terra gave me the job of protecting you._

"I accept." She said, struggling to keep her voice under control. Una was normally quite a calm person, however the instant this Prince Andrew-la-di-da-di-da-roman-numeral had opened his trap, he had grated on her nerves.

Here was a text book case of a dictator and a spoilt brat. He was…conventionally good looking, she guessed. She'd never had too much interest in the opposite gender but fact was fact. He also had wealth and money and power and the opportunity to abuse them as he liked. It was no wonder this world was overrun with Heartless.

"You will prove to me that you are capable of a competent job." He continued, standing and crossing the room to get a better look at her. She had to tilt her head up to do so, suddenly glad she'd gotten in all that practice on the gummi ship in looking heaps more enthusiastic than she was feeling.

"You are kind of scrawny for a sword-wielder." Was his only comment before sweeping off. "You'd better put on one hell of a show."

_Lots of experience._

* * *

It was even worse when the guards marched her down a hall. Evidently this was where they had managed to contain the shadows, as the back courtyard they showed her that was probably once some palace 'gardens' was crawling with them.

Una sighed. She hated flashy theatrics. Keyblading by the book was safer and more efficient. However, the Prince wanted to see the kinds of things that fascinated the young Keybladers, the ones who signed up because they figured destroying Heartless would be the kind of flashy show that Masters Terra, Aqua and Ven had made it seem, when they fought gigantic Heartless in the maw. Sure, the flashy stuff was useful against a sixteen-foot Darkside. Wasting your time with aerial acrobatics against a Shadow was liable to get you a claw in the heart.

Nonetheless, Una was well trained. She took a deep breath and started off quick, dispatching the Shadows first and firing off a few spells to take out the aerial elementals, then leaping into the air to perform a flip past a leaping Soldier type and cutting it down. She swung the Keyblade in a wide sweep, allowed one to get close enough she had to backflip out of the way and in spite of the utter waste of mana, unleashed a spectacular magic radial attack that instantly destroyed the few weak Heartless left.

"Excellent." The Prince was nodding approval. "You are clearly worthwhile keeping around. You will clear this world of Heartless as soon as is possible."

Una resisted the urge to growl under her breath. Did the man have NO regard for her prior engagement? He wasn't even going to give her the chance to explain about the dangers of him losing his heart and the Apprentices showing up. At the very least, her ship was still available to her. She'd just have to leave without warning if Xehan…Xemnas and his crew didn't bother to put in an appearance.

She was no research assistant, but it was clear that this man's heart had clearly been touched by Darkness and was well on the path. "Very well. However, Heartless – that's the correct name for your 'Shadows' - usually breed because of Darkness and they are attracted to it."

"Darkness? There is no Darkness here except at night. You are utterly foolish, woman. Save whatever feeble powers your mind possesses for the crude tasks you are best suited to."

Una ground her teeth. All she could do was wait for the hammer to fall.

* * *

A quick patrol of the surrounding village revealed more than just Heartless. There was no shortage of actual productivity from the subjects, but all that they created went to the Castle. They existed only to feed the monolith. The whole situation utterly repulsed her.

Like Heartless gathering hearts.

It was several different kinds of rotten and vile. Una had no idea how to turn this around. She was at least marginally good at keeping her temper under control and she made friends well, but she wasn't charismatic like Master Terra or a leader like Master Ven. Nor was she great at coming up with plans that weren't immediately obvious.

She stopped by a roughly lettered missive adorning one of the doorways in the market part of town. Apparently this 'Dyme' she'd run into was performing tonight. Well, that was alright then. Maybe these people did get some entertainment after all, if they were putting up posters about it.

There were a lot of Heartless, but they were hoards of little ones. She hadn't seen anything more frustrating than a Neo Shadow all day. Had she been a lesser Keyblader, this would have worried her more than it did. Una wasn't cocky, but she had a reasonable sense of her own ability. Neo Shadows were not beyond her.

She couldn't shake the feeling of 'calm before the storm' however as she returned to the palace. Maybe she could even hear the concert from there. That might make the stay with Prince Andrew somewhat tolerable.

"The infestation is heavy, but its production is weak. Those smaller Heartless are nowhere as big as they could be. The important thing is to find out where they are coming from." Una noted that Prince Andrew seemed somewhat interested, though it could potentially be the two glasses of wine he'd drunk at dinner. Either way, they'd gone at least twenty minutes without aspersions being cast on her intelligence. Perhaps he could be made to listen.

The revelation and the crash came at the same moment. Stupid Una, hadn't you just said it yourself earlier? They were feeding…"We've got to get out of the castle!"

"What…the?" small pieces of ceiling tile rained down on the Keyblader and the Prince as the castle shook around them. "What is going on here?"

"The Heartless responsible for your world's infestation is UNDER YOUR CASTLE!" Una screamed, unable to restrain her ire any longer. "I told you they were attracted to the Darkness, and your heart is filled with it!"

The tower they were in began to pitch, so any reply Prince Andrew might have had was caught up in a yell of surprise as he started to slide towards and out of the open window. Una cursed brilliantly and threw herself after him.

She caught him, but also got a good look as to just was outside. A massive black dragon, flashing yellow eyes up at them both and ravaging the base of the tower, trying to dislodge them from their precarious perch.

"Get me back up! What kind of bodyguard are you?"

"I'm trying my best!" Una hauled back hard, then immediately dropped one hand to summon her keyblade. She dropped it directly down where it glanced off the beast's head and returned to her hand. It roared in pain and confusion and took its eyes away from them for a few moments. She readied it for another strike, even though the arm supporting the Prince screamed in protest at her.

"Oh!" the sensation was back. The surprise of that deep feeling running through her, just as it had with Dyme was such a shock that she froze. Everything froze for a few moments, and it all went wrong at once.

Her hand convulsed, the Prince's grip slipped from her abused arm and he fell down, straight into the gaping jaws of the beast.

Una stared in utter horror at what had just occurred but she prepared to leap over the edge and slay the thing anyway. Maybe there was still a chance. Before she could even start her run to take a good strong leap down however, the Heartless burst into flame, incinerating itself from the inside out, a pink heart spiralling away into the sky.

"Guess he didn't taste very good, even for a Heartless." Una peered down into the ashes and destroyed rubble and dirt but she couldn't see anything of note.

She recovered quickly. Maybe she hadn't been able to save the Prince however she had learned something about her instincts. It wasn't over yet. With a concert in full swing, there was a powerful heart in danger, and a veritable feast for the Heartless to find.

"I hope you still know how to run away, Dyme."

* * *

As Una raced back towards the village, she didn't stop to see if the handsome redheaded man sitting outside the castle was alright, nor did she see the figure in a black hood who stopped to speak to him.

"So who are you? Death?"

The man laughed. "Nah, not a chance. I'm working on my second life…and by the looks of things, so are you."

"A second life, huh? Who are you?"

"Name's Xigbar. I've come to offer you a job."

"I am Prince Andrew Edwards Latmos the Third. I definitely am not obligated to anyone's employ."

Somehow, he didn't expect Xigbar to be impressed. He wasn't disappointed. "I don't think you're that guy anymore. Plus, I don't think you have much of a talent for keeping up a Kingdom. You do however seem to have a talent for destroying things. I thought that might be a wiser career move."

The man thought about it. "Yeah. That sounds like more my deal. Sure thing, Xigbar."

"Oh how fun." Xigbar drawled sarcastically. "By the way, Im'ma name you Axel. All those fancy names are too annoying to remember."

The newly dubbed 'Axel' gave the portal Xigbar opened up a cursory glance, shrugged and followed him through.

The screaming hit her ears right outside of town and Una winced, pressing further forward. People pushed by her and she helped where she could, destroying Heartless. Some Dusks were already there, looking around in confusion.

"Dyme!?"

A dusk turned to her.

"Ugh, get out of here." She swiped at it with her keyblade and it swooped around her. No. She had to be right. Dyme would be like Saix. Like the others. Like that Prince would have been if he hadn't got himself….eaten.

The portal opened on the other side of the amphitheatre made her look up in alarm, but there was a man down there, sitting up and looking around him in confusion. It was hard to tell from back here.

"Dyme!" she shrieked. "Dyme! Run away! Run away now!"

The figure that stepped from the portal looked over at her and waved, walking down towards Dyme.

"RUN! AWAY!" Una leapt the benches, struggling to get to where she was going before the man in black did.

"Two from this world? Not bad." He pushed his hood down.

"Braig, get away from him!" Una didn't care what asinine new name Braig had now. She was not failing anyone else from this world.

The gravity trap closed around her, slamming her hard into the stone floor of the world's natural open air theatre. She gasped as the wind was knocked out of her lungs. Since when could Braig do THAT?

Casting an Aero spell, she struggled to her feet, shaking off the worst of the shock.

"Hm, not bad." Something appeared in Braig's hand out of the darkness, and for one wild moment she imagined he had summoned a keyblade. "But, the Superior said to go fetch, so here I am. I just wasn't expecting to find a bonus."

"The Superior?" Una was really at the end of the rope at this point. "Is that what you're calling him now? What are you, Number Two?"

"Right in one." Braig took aim at her.

"Braig, this is utterly stupid. You don't have to follow that madman! He was creepy then and he's creepy now! Just leave Dyme alone."

"I'm real sorry Keyblade girlie, but it's Xigbar now." He glanced down at Dyme, thinking hard. "Hmmm, I wonder if Xemnas will go for 'Demyx.' I think it has a nice ring to it." He raised his eye back to the target. "Now, let's see if they teach you keybladers how to dance."

The steady stream of fire kept Una occupied, but she fought her way forward, deflecting the bullets to reach Dyme. "Come on…let's get out of here." Her fingers closed on his shoulder and it was cold to the touch. The warm electricity that had once buzzed in her body when she'd touched him now was gone.

Her hand flew off of him, cold revulsion flooding her. She was overcome by the strongest urge to strike him and actually backed away before one of Xigbar's bullets graze her arm, making it bleed.

"Get out of here Keyblade kid. I'm not gonna kill you today unless you make me. This is supposed to be a search and retrieve mission only." He stopped firing, disappeared briefly and appeared right next to Dyme, who stood.

"C'mon kid, you're gonna be Organization's Number Nine. S'either that or hanging around waiting for this world to die. Given the competency of it's keyblader, I bet that's not long. 'Course, I'm real interested to know how old Ansem got one of you down here, but if you were the best he had to spare, y'can't be doing all that well."

Una recognized defeat when she saw it. Xigbar was right. This world was doomed, and she herself had done it.

So this group of Xemnas' had only nine members. There were hundreds of keybladers in the wings waiting to take her place and there were three more targets who were still out there. Nine would be the very last member.

She let her keyblade dissipate and plunged back into the night, missing the last words of Demyx.

"She's leaving? I kind of wanted to go with her." He eyed the black portal with trepidation. "I don't think I trust that thing."

_To Be Continued_


End file.
